Corselet



oct. 23, 1945.

l.. N. ALBERTS CORSELET Filed Feb. 25, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. E0/v N. ALBERTS HIS ATTORNE YS Oct. 23, 1945. L. N. ALBERTS CORSELET Filed Feb. 25, 1944 2 SheebS-Sheet 2 BY 92ML, 2W WWA/amai H/' ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 23, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT Y OFFICE,`

consELE'r Leon N. Alberts, New York, N. Y. Application February 25, 1944, serial No. 523,808

3 Claims.

This invention relates to foundation garments, and more particularly to garments such as combined corsets and brassires, known as corselets, which have connected portions for respectively coniining and supporting differentparts of 'the body.

The invention relates more especially to the type of corselet which has a brassire part, or portion, the back section of which overlies the upper portion of the back of the lcorset part or portion, so that when the wearer bends forward these two parts will Aslide one upon the other. As heretofore proposed, the sliding back of the brassire section is returned to normal position, when the wearer straightens up, by means of `a direct elastic connection between the lower portion of the center of the back section of the brassire and the corset part, this connection passing through a slot or opening in the back of the corset and being secured to the rear vertil cal Stays, or directly to the hose supporters, or garters.

One of the difficulties with such garments is their complicated construction and high cost of manufacture, and the primary object of the present' invention is to simplify the construction and cheapen its cost of manufacture.

Another object of the invention is `to provide a garment which gives greater freedom of movement to the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to obviate direct transmission of force between the shoulder straps and the garters when bending forward or sidewise.

Another object of the invention is to coordinate freedom of movement in bending with more effective control of the diaphragm and abdomen.

With the slotted type of garment as previously referred to, the elastic connection is directly over the hollow of the back so that when placed, under tension it tends to stand out away from the body and detracts from the outline of the figure. Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to overcome this difficulty and provide a garment of this type which is snug fitting.

The objects of the invention may be Summarized by saying that the present invention aims to accomplish a better result than in the previous garments and in a more economical and better way.

The invention will be understood from a consideration of the accompanying drawings which illustrate one vembodiment thereof by way of example. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improvedgarment as viewed from the back;

Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; A

Fig. 3 is a developed view of the 'outside of the garment as it appears when laid out flat;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section drawn to `anenlarged scale taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 5 is a view of the garment on a. gure which is .bending forward; and

Fi-g. 6 is a central Vertical section, drawn to the same scale as Fig. 4, through the back portion of the garment showing the position of the parts on the bending figure of Fig. 3.

Referring now to these drawings, the garment comprises generally a lower, or corset, part 'C and an upper, or brassire part B. The front sections of the garment as shown at the right in Fig. 3, consist of integral or directly con'- nected upper and lower, or brassire and corset,

L parts preferably made of non-elastic material.

Thus the front section I of 'the corset, or lower part, may be made of any suitable non-elastic fabric, such as silk, satin or cotton cloth, and the upper, or'bra'ssire, part B of the front section of the garment may be made of light fabric or net or lace material. upper or brassire part andthe lower or corset part are permanently connected together along a seam 2 andan elastic gusset 3 is preferably provided at the lower edge of the center panel of front section I of the corset part.

The side sections 4 and 5 of the lower or corset part C are preferably formed of elastic mafterial, and, as shown, these sections are seamed to the opposite 'edges of the baclrsection 6 of the corset part of the garment. Side section -5 is also seamed to one side of the corset front section I, and the garment opens at the juncture of said panel 4 and front section I, as shown in Fig. 3. The back section 6 of the lower or corset part of, the garment is preferably formed of a suitable non-elastic fabric and may be either lined or unlined as desired.

The back section 1 of the upper or brassire The front sectionsof they part of the garment is also made of non-elastic material, and may be made throughout of the same material, or its three central panels may be made of non-elastic fabric and its two side panels 8 and 9 of elastic fabric in whole or in part. The lower edge II of brassire back section 'I extends downward over the upper edge I2 of the back section 6 of the corset part so that the lower portion of the brassire section 'I overlies and overlaps the upper portion of corset section 6. These overlapping portions are interconnected with one another so that they are free to slide vertically one with respect to the other. The brassire back section 'I is attached to the garment along its right hand edge, as viewed in Fig. 3, at thevertical seam I3 which connects the front corset section I with the side section 5. At its left hand edge, brassire section 'I is secured to the garment by a seam which permanently joins it to marginal portion I4 extending vertically from bottom to top of the garment and on whichthe detachable fastening means, such, for example, as the eyes I 5, are mounted.

Garters I6 of any desired type, may be secured at spaced points along the lower edge of the front and back sections I and 6 of the corset part. The garment is also preferably provided with shoulder straps I'I which extend between the front section Il! and the rear section 1 Vof the brassire part.

When the wearer of the garment bends forward, for example, as shown in Fig. 5, tension is produced in the shoulder straps I'I and the garters I6 which causes the sliding back section I of the brassire to slide upwardly so that its lower edge II approaches the upper edge I2 of the back section 6 of the corset part, as shown, for example, in Fig. 6. In order to return these parts to their normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, when the wearer straightens up, the arched -belt member I8 is provided. This member extends across the exterior of the back section B of the corset part immediately below the lower edge I I of the back section I of the brassire part, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The opposite ends of this belt I8 are anchored at the sides of the corset part C of the garment and its central portion is attached to the central portion of the lower edge I I of the back section 'I of the garments brassire part.

Thus the center of belt I8 may be joined to the lower edge I I of section 1 by means of a short line of stitches such as indicated at I9, and the opposite ends of the belt may be secured, for example, in the seam connecting side section 4 and marginal portion I4 and in seam I3, respectively Belt I8 is made, in part at least, of elastic material, preferably the center section 20 being made of non-elastic fabric and its end portions 2| of elastic fabric.

The geometry of this arched belt construction is the provision of a flat isosceles triangle having its base terminating at the sides of the garment substantially beneath the arms of the wearer, and its apex being at the lower edge of the back brassire section and at the center of the wearers back. Hence, as the wearer bends forward, for example, the upward movement of the apex of the triangle at stitching I9 will produce tension in the belt I8 which exerts a horizontal pull at the sides of the garment which tends to keep the garment flat in front. The upward motion of the apex of the triangle results both in the stretching or extension of the elastic sections 2I and inv `contraction at the sides and front of the wearers body. The initial arching of belt I@ is sufficient to produce immediate tension at the sides of the belt as soon as upward motion of the apex I9 commences. As the wearer straightens up the pressure at the sides is released and this, in addition to the elasticity of sections 2 I, causes the lower edge II of back section 'I to slide back to its original position as shown in Figs. 4 and 1. Sidewise bending movement produces a somewhat similar sliding movement of the back section 'I, but stretching one side f the arched belt I8 more than the other.

With the construction above described, bending movement of the wearer does not tend to displace either the upper brassire part or the lower corset part of the garment, since the relative movement of the upper and lower portions of the body caused by the bending is accommodated by the relative movement of the back brassire section I with respect to the back corset section 6. In other words, this construction prevents the riding up of the garment. The arched belt I8 permits this motion to take place without undue straining of the garment, and since the lower or corset part does not move upwardly on the body, undue strain on the stockings or garters is avoided.

The improved construction afforded by the arched belt I8 keeps back brassire section 1 snugly against the surface of the body at all times. It obviates the direct transmission of the pull of the shoulder straps to the garters and imposes less restraint on the wearer in bending,

reaching or stretching. Moreover, the production of the improved garment involves no complications and the manufacturing cost is unobjectionable.

It will be understood that the foregoing is an exemplifying disclosure of one embodiment of the improved garment of the present invention and that changes may be made in its construction without departing from the spirit of this invention. Thus, the arched belt I8 may be shortened, or its width may be varied from the preferred construction shown and still the resulting garment may have the desired characteristics referred to of comfort, freedom of movement and low cost of manufacture. It will be understood, therefore, that the scope of the invention is intended to extend to such variations as are included within the meaning of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a corselet, a corset part adapted to completely encircle the lower part of the body, a brassire part adapted to completely encircle the upper part of the body, the front sections of the corset part and the brassire part being sewed together, the brassire part being separate from the corset part at the back and having its lower edge disposed above the waist line and overlying the upper margin of the back section of the cor set part, and an arched belt elastic at least in part extending across the exterior of said back section having its ends anchored at the sides of said corset part below the lower edge of the brassire part and attached at its center to the lower corset part and the brassire part being sewed together, the brassire part being separate from the corset part at the back and having its lower edge disposed abovethe waist line and overlying the upper margin of the back section of the corset part, and an arched belt elastic at least in part extending across the exterior of said back section having its ends anchored to the sides of the front section of said corset part below the lower edge of the brassire part and attached at its center to the lower portion of the center of the brassire part of the garment, the length of said belt being such that the elastic part thereof maintains it under tension when the wearer is in upright as well as bent-over position.

3. In a corselet, a. corset part adapted to completely encircle the lower part of the body, a

` brassire part adapted to completely encircle the upper part of the body, the front sections of the corset part and the brassire part being sewed together, the brassire part being separate from the corset part at the back and having its lower edge disposed above the waist line and overlying the upper margin of the back section of the corset part, and an arched belt having a. center portion of non-elastic material and end portions of elastic material, said central portion having a limited attachment to the lower portion of said brassire part and the ends of said elastic sections being anchored respectively at the opposite sides of the corset part below the lower edge of the brassire part of the garment, the length of said belt being such that the elastic part thereof maintains it under tension when the wearer is in upright as well as bent-over position.

` LEON N. ALBERTS. 

